Carter Benedict Burwell (born November 18, 1954) is an American film composer. He has frequently collaborated with the

Coen brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...

, having scored most of their films. He has also scored films by other directors such as

Bill Condon William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including ''Gods and Monsters (film), Gods and Monsters'', ''Chicago (2002 fi ...

Todd Haynes Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...

Spike Jonze Adam Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze (), is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes films, commercials, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze ...

Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh ( ; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his Absurdism, absurdist Black comedy, dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won List of awards and no ...

, James Foley, Brian Helgeland, and

John Lee Hancock John Lee Hancock Jr. (born December 15, 1956) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the films '' The Rookie'' (2002), '' The Alamo'' (2004), '' The Blind Side'' (2009), '' Saving Mr. Banks'' (2013), '' The Founder'' (2016), '' ...

. Burwell received

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominations for Best Original Score for Haynes's '' Carol'' (2015) and McDonagh's films ''

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'' (2017), and '' The Banshees Of Inisherin'' (2022).

Early life and education

Burwell was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the son of Natalie (née Benedict), a math teacher, and Charles Burwell, who founded Thaibok Fabrics, Ltd. He graduated from King School in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

with George Hofecker and other notables and

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, where he was a cartoonist for ''

The Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate Humor magazine, humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seve ...

''.

Career

As a film composer, Burwell has had a long-working relationship with the

, providing music for every film they have made (except for '' Inside Llewyn Davis'' and '' O Brother, Where Art Thou?''). Among his best known film scores are '' Miller's Crossing'' (1990), '' And the Band Played On'' (1993), ''

Conspiracy Theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

'' (1997), ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' (2000), '' The Spanish Prisoner'' (1997), ''

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead ''Before the Devil Knows You're Dead'' is a 2007 American crime thriller film directed by Sidney Lumet. The film was written by Kelly Masterson, and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney. The title come ...

'' (2007), '' In Bruges'' (2008), ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' (2008), ''

Where the Wild Things Are ''Where the Wild Things Are'' is a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by American author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak, originally published in hardcover by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several ti ...

'' (2009), '' The Blind Side'' (2009), and '' Breaking Dawn - Part 1'' (2011) and '' Part 2'' (2012). Burwell wrote and recorded the original score for the film '' The Bourne Identity'', but director

Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), '' Jumper'' (2008), '' E ...

wanted something else and replaced it with a score by John Powell. The ethos of the punk rock movement gave Burwell the impetus to start performing. He performed in New York with several bands, notably The Same, Thick Pigeon, and Radiante. Burwell played in Thick Pigeon with

Stanton Miranda Miranda Stanton, best known for her recordings as Stanton Miranda, Miranda Dali and Thick Pigeon, is a 1980s Factory Records artist from New York City. She achieved some notice for her single "Wheels Over Indian Trails" (produced by Stephen Morris ...

; the group released two albums, ''Too Crazy Cowboys'' (Factory) and tracks on ''Miranda Dali'' (Crepuscule), originally released as a Miranda solo project but later reissued as a Thick Pigeon release. On Burwell's soundtrack for '' Psycho III'', Miranda was a featured singer. By 1986 he had composed the music for a dance piece, RAB, which premiered at the Avignon Festival. At the same time, he was touring worldwide with The Harmonic Choir, David Hykes' experimental vocal group, which specialized in

overtone singing Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, or diphonic singing, is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract to arouse the perception ...

. Burwell used the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

genre as the basis for his score for the Coens' '' Raising Arizona'' in 1987. From 1982 to 1987 he worked at the

New York Institute of Technology The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a Private university, private research university, research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York (state), New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long I ...

. His work has alternated between live performance, dance and theater commissions, and film scoring. His chamber opera, ''The Celestial Alphabet Event,'' was presented in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 1991, and other theater pieces include ''Mother'' (1994) and ''Lucia's Chapters'' (2007), both with the experimental theater group Mabou Mines. In April 2005, Burwell composed and conducted music performed by The Parabola Ensemble for the plays ''Sawbones,'' written and directed by the

, ''Hope Leaves the Theater,'' written and directed by

Charlie Kaufman Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. Having first come to prominence for writing ''Being John Malkovich'' (1999), ''Adaptation (film), Adaptation'' (2002), and ''Eternal Sun ...

, and '' Anomalisa,'' written and directed by Kaufman as Francis Fregoli. This was a segment of the sound-only production "Theater of the New Ear", which debuted at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, with support from

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...

. It was also performed at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

in London, England, in May 2005, and at

Royce Hall Royce Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison (James Edward Allison, 1870–1955, and his brother David Clark Allison, 1881–1962) and completed ...

in Los Angeles, California, in September 2005, as part of the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Live Festival. In 2009, Burwell was the recipient of the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award from the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

. In 2010, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for ''

''. In 2015, he received the Distinguished Film Composer award from the Middleburg Film Festival, and the

Los Angeles Film Critics Association The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975. Background Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles–based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organi ...

award for Best Music Score for '' Anomalisa'' and '' Carol''. He was nominated for the

Annie Award for Music in an Animated Feature Production The Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in a Feature Production (or Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production) is an Annie Awards, Annie Award given annually to the best music in an animated f ...

for '' Anomalisa'' and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for '' Carol''. In 2016, he received the

Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for Best Original Score and the Best Score award by the International Cinephile Society for ''Carol''. Burwell was awarded Film Composer of the Year by the

World Soundtrack Awards The World Soundtrack Awards, launched in 2001, are the annual awards for best Film score, film music, presented during the Film Fest Gent. The World Soundtrack Academy supports the art of film music through cultural, educational and professional ac ...

, and the score for '' Carol'' received the Public Choice Award for the Best Score of the Year. Burwell received his first

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by ...

nomination for ''Carol'', his second for ''

'', and his third for '' The Banshees Of Inisherin ''.

Personal life

Burwell married Christine Sciulli in 1999. Since 2009, Burwell has lived in Napeague, New York.

Filmography

Films

Television

Accolades

References

External links

* *
Thick Pigeon bio at LTM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burwell, Carter 1954 births American film score composers Animated film score composers Harvard College alumni The Harvard Lampoon alumni Living people American male film score composers Composers from New York City New York Institute of Technology faculty Varèse Sarabande Records artists